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On July 23rd, a significant fire tore through the business
district in Harpers Ferry. While the town is
grateful that no one was harmed, three buildings in the
historic district were gutted, and two apartments and many popular
businesses were destroyed. The town has established an
official emergency relief fund for those businesses and residences
impacted. Please consider a donation to www.gofundme.com/renewharpersferry.

Our B&B, the national historical park and many businesses in
the lower town remain open.

The construction of Laurel Lodge spanned several years but was
largely completed in 1915. So, this year we kick-off our
centennial celebration. To commemorate the event, we invited
descendants of Eugene and Maggie Shugart, the builders of Laurel
Lodge, to join us for a weekend at the lodge. The Shugarts
are a great family and have been very generous in sharing stories
and photos of the early days. They have enriched us and our guests
with the history of the house. We are honored that so many
were present for the 100th birthday of Laurel Lodge!

Laurel Lodge guests enjoy the natural fragrances of hand-made
soaps from Peggy Cruzan of Whistling
Hill Farm. Most Saturday mornings, Peggy can be found at
the Charles Town Farm Market selling her lamb, chicken, eggs and,
of course, a variety of soaps. Peggy, a chemist at heart,
experiments to find the ideal combinations to create a rich
lathering and fragrant soap. Her rosemary variety has been a
favorite among our guests.

Hiking is always a major activity for people visiting Harpers Ferry and Laurel Lodge. Many of our guests
enjoy day hikes to Maryland Heights or Virginius Island while
they’re here. Section hikers on the Appalachian Trail will begin or
end a hike here. And some guests will visit the Appalachian
Trail Conservancy’s Visitors Center just one block away
and be inspired to plan a major hike.

In 2013 Sean and Angela Reinhart and their
friends Bob, Janice and Philip Hawkins visited Laurel Lodge and met
two other guests who had just completed 35 kilometers of the Sierra
Club’s annual 100-k hike
on the C&O Canal
Towpath.

The Rineharts and Hawkins were inspired to complete 50
kilometers of the event this year, and they celebrated their
accomplishment with another stay at the Lodge. Interestingly,
during this 2014 visit, they met Gregory Whitehead,
another Laurel Lodge guest who departed on foot for
the beginning of an AT hike
to his Massachusetts home. Will the Rineharts and Hawkins
follow suit next year?

Also pictured here is another section AT hiker, Renata
Scruggs, with her husband Billy. Renata’s hike this year took her
from Laurel Lodge to Front Royal, VA over four days, as part of her
goal to eventually complete the entire AT.

For the fourth year in a row Laurel Lodge was proud to take
part in the B&Bs for Vets offering. In this program, free
B&B rooms are offered to veterans and active-duty service men
and women on Veterans Day. This year we hosted two veterans. Ltc.
Paul D. Belz of Fallston, MD retired after 26 years in the US Army
Reserves. His service was activated during Desert Shield War in
1990-91. He visited Laurel Lodge with his wife Patrice. LCdr.
Lisa Finlayson has served in the US Navy for 18 years and works as
an aviation physiologist in Norfolk, VA.

The B&B for Vets program was begun five years ago by
Kathleen Panek, a fellow WVBBA member from
Shinnston, WV. Since then, the program has grown around the country
and even internationally, and it is managed by PAII’s Better Way to Stay program. During our four years in
the program our guests have varied from a Korean War veteran to a
Purple Heart recipient in the Afghan War. It is one small way that
we can say “Thank you for your service!”

Laurel Lodge has launched a landscaping project on the rear
hillside. In order to get a handle on the impenetrable
tangle of invasive weeds and vines, we enlisted the help of
EcoGoats. Professional forester, Brian Knox,
brought 32 goats to spend the weekend at Laurel Lodge. The
goats enjoyed an all-you-can eat buffet of wisteria, nettle, poison
ivy and other delicacies. By the time they were finished, all
the vegetation had been stripped up to six feet off the ground.
Their work provided us access to the hillside where we will
be establishing more desirable native plantings. Thanks
EcoGoats!

Although all our guests are special folk, a few days before
Independence Day 2013 Laurel Lodge was especially honored to host
some important guests.

An extremely notable couple from Illinois visited Laurel Lodge.
The first time Abe Lincoln visited Harpers Ferry, things in town
were considerably less peaceful than they have been this past
month, since the region and the country were still reeling from the
battles of Harpers Ferry and Antietam. On this visit, however, Mr.
Lincoln was joined by the charming Mrs. Lincoln (Mary Todd), and
they enjoyed their visit to Harpers Ferry
National Historical Parkafter a visit to
Gettysburg. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln now sometimes go by the names of
Robert and Barbara
Brugler, and rumor has it that their present abode is actually
in Ohio. Regardless, their visit made quite a splash, and
neighbors and other guests at Laurel
Lodge (not to mention the innkeeper) enjoyed having their
pictures taken with the esteemed couple.

Also of note, William Wargel, 90 years old, visited Harpers
Ferry on his way to the Gettysburg sesquicentennial celebration.
William is a World War II Veteran who served in the Army Air Corps,
345 Squadron. As a gunner on a B-25, he flew 37 missions in the
Pacific. Here he is pictured during his stay at Laurel Lodge.

Guests at Laurel Lodge start their day with
a steaming cup of locally-roasted, fresh-ground Black Dog Coffee. With a vintage roaster, Brian
launched his business from his garage in Summit Point, WV.
With a growing list of restaurants and shops
featuring their amazing coffees, Brian and Jennifer moved the
roaster into a new market shop in nearby Bardane.

The shop features Black Dog Coffee as well as other locally
sourced items including meats, soaps, honey, teas, jewelry and
chocolates. Guests can take home a keepsake of their visit to
West Virginia by purchasing ground or whole-bean coffees at the
market in Bardane or by visiting their booth at the Charles Town
Farm Market on Saturday mornings.

One of our favorite winter breakfasts is a chard, gruyere and
caramelized onion frittata. It’s made all the more
special by the wonderful rainbow chard raised by local green thumb
Fiona Harrison at Slaynt Vie Farm.
During the summer months, Fiona and her partner Chuck anchor
the Charles Town Farm Market. They supply a
delicious assortment of honey, mixed lettuces, tender young shoots,
rhubarb, colorful peppers, fresh eggs and beautifully braided
garlic. If you visit between mid-April and mid-October, be
sure to plan a stop at the market and carry home some of the
incredible produce from Slaynt Vie Farm.